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Bitten by my 20 month old, not healing..

I was bitten by my 20 month old a week or so ago and it still hasn't healed I am feeding twins, so I can't rest that side. She is also very used to turning her head one way to feed, so repositioning doesn't work and she ends up wriggling and hurting me even more! I have tried a salt dip after each feed for several days, using nipple cream and now just leaving it for a while. She is teething, but it's the molars coming through. She is a biter, it's about the 4th bite I've had from her. Getting so annoyed at it now and it's sore! Am on antibiotics for another infection but the dr said, it should prevent my nipple becoming infected as well. Am out of ideas! Can you help?

Re: Bitten by my 20 month old, not healing..

So only one baby is biting? You might want to try having her nurse on the other side, allowing the gentler baby to take the bitten side. Of course, that gives you a possibility of getting bitten on the good side, as well! You could also try nursing her literally upside-down, so that she can't reposition and reinjure you.

For wounds in the nipple area, I like a combination of 1% hydrocortisone cream and Bacitracin antibiotic ointment. The steroid takes care of inflammation and the antibiotic takes care of infection. Use a pea-sized amount, mixed and applied using a clean finger.

Re: Bitten by my 20 month old, not healing..

Have you tried bringing either of your babies to that side on a totally different angle? I get it she will not cooperate, but what if it's that or nothing? What would happen if she was not able to nurse at all unless she cooperates? This is an age where some kids can work with mom on things like this if motivated to do so, and some just can't, so you will know best how much you can 'force' the issue.

If you can get some cooperation, I agree with trying alternative angles. When my baby bit and injured me I nursed her 'upside down' so her teeth/lower gums (the part that did the damage) were not touching on the same spot when she latched.

I lay down and pulled her to the breast over my shouder, first over the shoulder on the opposite side, ehich helped, but it still hurt some. So then I pulled her over my shoulder on the same side as the bite. It made the latch feel almost normal, no real pain. She fell asleep nursing like this.

She was 7.5 months old at the time.

In that case my injury included a deep, very painful bruise. That hurt even after my skin healed. It just took time to heal.

When I had sore nipples when pregnant, I could sometimes get my then just two year old son to be "soft" when he latched and nursed. I also limited nursing sessions length by giving him a choice (you may nurse for the time I sing 'twinkle twinkle little star' or 'mary had a little lamb.'

Re: Bitten by my 20 month old, not healing..

Have you tried a nipple shield over the wound? I'm having a similar problem, I was bitten by my lo weeks ago and the wound will not heal. So far I'm not having any luck getting her to use the shield currently but it worked so well for me when she was younger I wanted to mention it to you. I understand you can't rest that side because you're feeding twins. I am resting my wounded side and am worried about losing supply, although I'm pumping several times a day on that side. I feel that the answer would be to use a nipple shield on my wounded side if I could get my lo to nurse from it! I had severe off the charts pain in the beginning of breastfeeding and a nipple shield saved us and I recommend it to anyone who has pain. My baby had no problem nursing from it then, we used it for a few days in the hospital, then without it for a month, then back on it for 3 months....then off permanently. I would give anything if I could get her to do it again but she keeps refusing. That would allow us to continue nursing on that side while I heal rather than pumping which doesn't work well for me. She nursed so well with the shield when she was younger and my supply was very heavy when using it, even more than without it, and I think that was because her latch seemed further back and better. So you might consider trying a shield if you haven't tried that yet and maybe your lo will go for it better than mine is right now. I have another post about this, asking for advice about how to coax or trick her into nursing from it again, but no ideas about that yet. I tried filling it with pumped breast milk to get her started...it didn't work for me but maybe would for you...